


an ode to the elements

by strawberriesandtophats



Category: W.I.T.C.H.
Genre: Adventure, Epic Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Magic, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2019-10-22 20:45:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17669771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberriesandtophats/pseuds/strawberriesandtophats
Summary: The magic stayed.That was a part of the deal that they’d never been told about. Sure, one day there would be another group of girls that would become the Guardians, but they hadn’t showed up yet.Or maybe they had, and nobody had bothered to tell this group.Or dared to stop them.Chapters 2 and 3 are snippets of their life as Guardians in their teens.





	1. Chapter 1

The magic stayed.

That was a part of the deal that they’d never been told about. Sure, one day there would be another group of girls that would become the Guardians, but they hadn’t showed up yet.

Or maybe they had, and nobody had bothered to tell this group.

Or dared to stop them.

Perhaps the magic had always lingered, too at home to truly leave. It was handy to never having to worry about burning yourself on the stove or becoming overheated in the summer. Not to mention being able to light a fire whenever she wanted to do so.

Still, that was how she found herself in Cornelia’s dented and muddy truck, screaming at the top of her lungs as they sped towards danger. Cornelia had half of the forest in her hair, a devil-may-care look on her face and Taranee was pretty sure that the trees themselves were _moving out of their way_.

The truck hadn’t even sunk when they’d crossed the river earlier, instead a huge wave had pushed it to go even faster. Hay Lin had stuck her head outside the window, watching the storm gather moment above them.

Irma was scream-singing to the old pop song on the radio, the sort of song that Taranee hadn’t heard since they were all in high school.

And then there was Will, nails digging into the faded seat and eyes filled with that old determination that had brought the end of hundreds of villains. The tattoos on her arms, most of them designed by Hay Lin, were on full display for once since she’d opted for a green t-shirt in this heat.

Looking around, everyone was wearing something green or purple-tinged.

Old habits die hard.

None of them was a ghost of their teenage selves, but stronger and everything they were always meant to be.

They’d chase down whatever threat was making a mess, as they always had.

And they’d win.


	2. Chapter 2

Will scraped back her wet hair, breathing in the scent of the swimming pool locker room. She’d slathered on the rest of the body lotion that Cornelia had downright dropped into her bag when she’d told her that she’d finished hers and it was still drying on her legs so she put some of it on her face for good measure. 

Spending any time in locker rooms taught you to hurry when dressing. It was not like that was much of an issue with a good pair of overalls and a graphic t-shirt in her bag alongside her lucky frog-pattern socks.

It was a relief to not have to put on the smelly clothes she’d arrived in and thanked Past!Will for putting a new outfit in a separate bag within her swimming bag. Along with deodorant and underwear.

Besides, the water had washed off the dirt and sweat that came with Guardian duties and her tense muscles from balancing a part-time job at the pet-store and schoolwork were much better after a good swim and a soak. Maybe Irma was onto something about lounging around in the bath.

She pulled on the socks and t-shirt, discarding her sparse makeup bag and attacked her hair instead. She just wasn’t in the mood to worry about smudging her mascara or eating some lip-gloss accidentally while just trying to actually eat some actual food.

Instead she put on her overalls and sneakers, stuffing her things into the bag after smudging some lipbalm over her lips with her fingers. Her phone was already lit up with old messages from Taranee and Irma about homework and endless pictures from Hay Lin on her new art project and the pile of manga she’d got from the library. 

She’d only left it for an hour or two.

When she was busying herself with the lock on her bike and crewing on a squashed cereal bar she’d found at the bottom of her bag, she found out that Cornelia had sent her the almost complete drafts of the project they were working on together and had to be ready by Monday.

Will found herself smiling as she biked through the dark city, the breeze drying her hair and cooling her face.

She wouldn’t have to spend most of the night catching up on homework or fighting monsters in an alternative world. Instead she could finish the absolutely essential homework, flop into bed to play Pokémon and finally fall asleep.

It was already a much better evening than it had been before she’d gone into the pool.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s not as if it’s an unusual sight, a group of exhausted teenage girls hanging around in the park on a Saturday afternoon. Their knees and elbows are covered in band-aids, their hair is a mess that has been half-heartedly tied back or finger-combed. They’ve all got stuffed school bags and sports’ bags with them, so they might have been at some kind of a school tournament, judging by their flushed cheeks and bright eyes full of fight.

They are so loud, talking about battles that should belong in comics or video games, about magic and more sensible uniforms and homework. They are too delighted to be in each other’s company to care who hears them.

The spring breeze is warm and the scent of flowers wafts in the air as the girls wolf down sandwiches from the nearby cart, stealing each other’s fries and unwrapping candy bars. Water bottles and soda cans are passed around as they keep walking. 

“A shower,” Cornelia says. “I need a long hot shower and a whole jar of body scrub to get this stink off!”

“Come home with me so we can all finish studying for the chemistry test,” Will says. “You can use my bathroom and we’ll order whatever you want to eat!”

“What if I want the entire right side of the menu of that place we went to last time?” Irma says, brushing crumbs off her fingers and making a grand gesture. “I need my energy. This fight was off the charts!”

“We’ll pool all our pocket money,” Taranee says.“And I’m going to deep condition my hair.” 

“Let’s do it!” Hay Lin says, throwing an impossible amount of paper bags and empty soda cans into two separate recycling containers in one move. “After we’re done, we’ll have a movie night! I’ve already texted my parents!”


End file.
